Fatal Mount Eliza crash kills two, one dead in Mildura, one dead in alleged Ardeer hit-run

Tributes are pouring in for two people killed in a head-on smash at Mount Eliza overnight. It was a disastrous night on Victorian roads as four people lost their lives and eight people were rescued after getting stuck in snow on Mt Hotham.

It was a disastrous night on Victorian roads as four people lost their lives in three separate accidents.

In the Alpine National Park, emergency services rescued eight people near Mt Hotham whose four-wheel drives became stuck in snow.

But Mount Eliza was the scene of tragedy as two people died following a tragic head-on smash on the Nepean Highway last night.

Pearcedale woman Kalinda Nheu. Picture: Facebook

Heatherton man Pauly Khaled. Picture: Facebook

The driver, 22-year-old Heatherton man Pauly Khaled, and his 18-year-old passenger from Pearcedale, Kalinda Nheu, died at the scene.

Victoria Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Stephen Leane described the incident as a tragedy.

Investigators say the car was speeding northbound along the highway when it veered out of control to collide with an oncoming vehicle at 11.15pm.

In a chilling message posted on Facebook two years earlier, Pauly said: “Be safe on the roads please we don’t need more young ones gone.”

A GoFundMe page has been started for the victims, with tributes flooding in for the popular pair on social media.

“Rest in peace beautiful girl Kalinda Nheu you have been taken way too soon.” Daniel Sala wrote on Facebook.

Another Facebook friend Jessie Jane said “everyone will miss” Kalinda.

“Rest in peace gorgeous (Kalinda Nheu) so sad to hear definitely taken too soon,” she wrote.

Dylan Joseph said Pauly would “always be remembered and loved”.

“There are times in life that I don’t wish upon anyone,” he said.

“To a man that put a smile on my face and many other people out their (sic) you honestly do not deserve to be involved in such a terrible incident.”

Tiffany Anagnostopoulos said Pauly brought “nothing but laughter” when he was around.

“Getting a call at 2am to tell you that one of your mates is no longer with us is something no friend should go through,” she wrote on Facebook.

“My heart is broken for the Khaled family, shredded to pieces thinking of the hardships you are currently facing.”

Another man was left in disbelief as he watched the crash “unfold right in front of me”.

“Still can’t believe this happened and I’ll never be the same again,” Kyle O’Grady wrote on Facebook.

“As much as you all know I love my drifting/burnouts etc watching something like this with people you love involved is one of the hardest things I’ve had to endure and I still don’t know how to deal with it.”

A 25-year-old Mount Eliza man, who was the driver of the second car, was taken to hospital in a stable condition.

Meanwhile at Mt Hotham, four adults and four children, aged between six and 12, became bogged on Blue Rag Range Track about 4pm yesterday.

Two four-wheel drives were initially stuck before people from the other vehicles attempted to rescue the trapped travellers.

But their efforts were in vain as they became stranded as well.

All of the trapped people were rescued at about 11am this morning following a freezing night, but they are safe and well after having food and shelter during their time in the wilderness.

The car wreck after the fatal crash at Red Cliffs last night.

Meanwhile, a man has handed himself into police following an alleged hit-run after a woman’s body was found on busy Ballarat Rd in Ardeen at 7.40pm last night.

The scene at Ardeer where a woman’s body was found. Picture: Jay Town

Police investigate at Ardeer. Picture: Jay Town

Police are yet to contact the woman’s next of kin.

She was aged in her 40s.

In Victoria’s north, a 31-year-old Red Cliffs man died after a crash near Mildura where speed and alcohol were involved.

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Investigators say a sedan with three male occupants ran off the road into a pole on Indi Ave in Red Cliffs at about 8.45pm.

The 39-year-old driver was rushed to hospital in a critical but stable condition while a 38-year-old male passenger was admitted to hospital with serious injuries.

The men are both from Red Cliffs.

The deaths overnight means 138 people have been killed on Victorian roads this year, well above the 88 at this time last year.

It comes as a mother and four children died in a fiery “catastrophic” crash northwest of Brisbane.